My eyes lock with her and I breathe through the quake in my chest as I summon the words I should have said from the beginning. The ones I should have been on my knees telling her in that clearing, instead of the ones that brought us to our near ruin.
“I, Rennick Fallamhain, Alpha of the Fallamhain Pack, claim you, Noa Alderwood, as my fated mate. My scent match. My destiny. You are my rightful Luna. The only one ever meant to bear my mark or my children. From this moment forward, I am yours. Faithfully. Completely.”
The words leave me and take everything with them.
I stay there, on my knees, throat bared, her fingers in my grip, and wait to see if the woman I broke will let me be hers.
Chapter 26
Noa
Rennick Fallamhain, Alpha of the Fallamhain Pack.
On his knees.
Head tilted
Throat bared.
For me.
I don’t breathe.I. can’t. fucking. Breathe.
The light spilling through the lodge’s windows catches on his hair and shines on the white fabric drawn across his broad shoulders. It illuminates the air around him in a gilded haze, but it’s a glow that feels too soft for the intensity of this moment and too warm for the tension thrumming between us. Kneeling before me, Rennick looks divine. Like some kind of fallen god that’s still worthy of being worshiped, even in his ruin.
I’d braced for this day like it was going to be the one that broke me—the day my nightmare came true, where I was forced to watch him stand beside Talis McNamara and claim a future with her.I’d pictured myself watching it happen, swallowed by a second dose of humiliation, bleeding out my pride and what’s left of my broken heart until there was nothing left to hold me here.
But that isn’t what happened here.
The man I thought was betraying me,again, has burned the great lie down to ash instead.
I see it all for what it truly is now. The ruthless brilliance of it, the artful cruelty aimed at those who deserved it. He gathered every person who helped wreck us and made them witness themoment he tore the alliance apart and built a pyre out of the remains. Every move, every word, was meant to dismantle what had chained him. What had chained us both.
And now he’s here.Submitting.
He’s waiting for me to decide what comes next. To accept him or condemn him. To forgive or finish what he started that day in the clearing. The power of this choice should scare me, but it doesn’t. Not when I know that condemning him would mean condemning myself too.
But no matter how much IneedRennick, I will alwayswanthim more.
I’ve always wanted him. Even when it hurt to admit it. Even when wanting him felt like pressing my hand to an open wound just to feel the blood drip through my fingers.
I’d already started to forgive him before all of this—before the secrecy, before this party, before my power lashed out and forced him to live his worst nightmare.
One of the biggest things that has held me back from succumbing to him washerand the claim she had on him still. He’s erased that now, torn it out by the root in front of everyone.
Suddenly, the only thing left standing between us is…me. And my fear. But I’m so fucking tired of feeding that. Tired of carrying it like it’s some fragile thing that might shatter if I breathe wrong in Rennick’s presence. I don’t want to live like this anymore—I can no longer bear the burden of it. Mentally or physically. And I also can’t keep letting it pull me back from accepting the future fate has always intended for me.
The weight of the stares in the room press sharply into my skin, but they don’t matter right now. My heart stumbles once before steadying itself through sheer will alone.
His hand has stayed wrapped around mine. The warm solid hold is steady in a way that keeps me anchored. With my free hand, I reach for him.
My fingers brush the open collar of his button shirt, tracing the line of his corded throat where I can feel the hum of his pulse. His breath hitches at the delicate touch. Slowly, I trail my fingertips upward over the rough edge of his beard, along the firm line of his carved jaw, and across his cheek until I find his temple.
I press gently, a silent request.
Turn to me.
He does.
